Automatic selling and delivering apparatus.



No. 845,984. PATENTED MAR. 5,1907. L. 0. T. THOMPSON. AUTOMATIC SELLING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 4. 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTEDMAR. 5, 1907.

' L. 0. T. THOMPSON. AUTOMATIC SELLING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.4.1906.

2 SHEBTSSHBBT 2.

EARS oLor THYR THOMPSON,

or STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, ASSIGNOR TO CARL PEHR JOSEF JOHNSSON, OF STQCKHOLM, SWEDEN.

AUTOMATIC SELLING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS- Specification of Lettera Patent.

Patented March 5 1907.

Application filed September 4, 1900. Serial No. seam.

The present invention relates to an auto-- matic a paratus for selling and delivering sandwlc es or other articles which can be retailed piece bypiece under the control of a coin mechanism, the said apparatus having such a construction that it makes it possible for the buyer to choose any one he likes of the oods inclosed in the appgratus. A paratus of this kind are already own, which consist of a large fiat basin provided with a door controlled by a coin mechanism and a rotating body arranged in the basin, the said body containing compartments in which the goods which are to be retailed are placed.

Although in some respects these apparatus are convenient, they possess, however, a'number of inconveniences, as they occu alarge space and are'also diflicult to fill w1t the intended goods.

It is these inconveniences which it is intended to remedy by the present invention, which invention principally consists in: that the compartments or the like which carry the goods are arranged so that said compartments can move freely in or nearly in a vertical plane under a cover or behind a wall, which is provided with a door controlled by a coin mech-' anism, which door normally closes an opening through which the oods can be taken out. The invention is il ustrated by the accompanying drawin s, which show one form of constructionof said invention.

Figure 1 shows a side view of the principal arts of the apparatus, partly in section. ig. 2 shows a front view of the same with the front wall removed. Fig. 3 shows a view of the exterior of the apparatus seen from the front. front and side elevation a detail of the apparatus. Fig. 6 shows a modified detail.

by the drawings, the apparatus As is seen possesses, accordln to the form of construction shown, an end ess carrier formed of cords 1 2, chains, or the like, which run over wheels, rollers, or the'like 3 4 5 6 and support compartments or shelves 7, which are pivotally mounted Figs. 4 and 5 show, respectively, in"

on the said cords or chains and" areintended to contain the oods and which by their weight or by suitab y guides are made to take up such a position that their bottoms always lie horizontal and which by suitable bear1ngse. g., guide-plates 8 9can be prevented from swin ing when they are moved.

The carrier which is formed by the cords 1 2 and the compartments or shelves 7 for containing the goods can, as is shown in the drawings, be arranged close behind a vertical wall which to a greater of lesser extent consists' of glass or some other transparent material, so that a larger or smaller part of the compartments, with the goods contained therein, become visible from the outside. There can be suitably arranged in this conjunction a row of apparatus along the same wall as the case is with, those apparatus now in use,

which by means of inserted coins can be released step by step for the purpose of delivering the goods in the order that the com partments sink. Instead of arran" g the compartments behind a vertical wal the a paratus can also be arranged so as to b more or less separated from each other b mounting the carriers under covers, whic stand more or less free on a counter or like, which said covers can entirely or partly consist of glass or someother suitable transparentmaterial which covers the upper part of the carrier, while the lower part can go down to any desired de th below the counter, the said depth depen mg u on the number of compartments it is desire to have in each apparatus. space necessary for these apparatus. is very inconsiderable in comparison with that needed for the hitherto-used a paratus with a horizontal freely-rotating bo y for the support of the goods, while at the same time the number of compartments can be made as great as is found desirable in each special As can easily be seen, the plan case and the placing of the goods into the corncounter on which the apparatus is arranged.

In the form of construction shown there is arranged forthe purpose of rotating the carmet a draw-line or the like 10, a partof which goes outside the front wall of the apparatus,

as is shown in Fig. 3, and which at its toppasses over a wheel 1 1, which is mounted on the same shaft 12 as the wheels 3 4, over which the cords 1 2 run at the top. 'The said wheel 11 is of the same diameter as the wheels 3-and 4 last named, so that the compartments when the line is pulled are moved at the same speed as that at which the line is pulled in the one or the other direction.. At the bottom the line 10 runs over a smaller wheel 13, loosely mounted on the shaft 14 of the wheels' 5 6 and of a circumference equal to the distance between two compartments which are adjacent to each other. The wheel 13 is firmly attached to a cam-plate 15. This cam-plate has a notch which lies just opposite a roller 16 (which is carried by a lever 18, journaled at 17) when the carrier has been so moved that a compartment lies directly in front of an opening 19, arranged in the front Wall of the apparatus, the said opening giving admission into the said compartment after a door 20, which closes said opening, has been removed by the action of a coin mechanism controlling said door. This door 20'is connected, by means of a link 21, with the upper end of the lever 18, so that after be ing released the door can fall agaln only when the notch in the cam-platelies just 0ppo site the roller 16-4. 6., that a compartment lies just opposite the opening 19, which is closed by the door 20. On the other hand, the door will be immediately closedas soon as the carrier is moved, as the cam-plate 15 then presses back the roller l6,'so that the arm 18 and the link 21 are carriedback to the osition shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

he circumference of the wheel 13 is in the present instance equal to the distance be tween two adjacent compartments or shelves; but the circumference of such wheel may be increased to any desired extent and the camplate 15, which is attached to the wheel 13, can be provided with a corresponding number of notches.

In order that the safe working of the apparatus shall not be hindered by the slipping of the draw-line on its wheel, the camlate which closes the door can bemade as arge as the wheels 5 6, and it can be made fast to the said wheels and on its periphery there can be made notches at distances from each other equal to the distances between compartments adjacent to each other, and in this case the wheel 13 can be made of any desired size. In order to prevent the cords 1 2 from slip ing on their wheels 3 4 5 6, there are in t e periphery of the last-named wheels arranged notches 22 for the reception of the pins or shafts 23, carrying the compartments. The cam-plate 15 can be replaced by a cog-wheel 24, firmly attached to the shaft 14, and the roller 16 be replaced by a smaller cog-wheel 25, j ournaled in stationary bearings, which said cog-wheel en gages in the first cog-wheel 24. (See Fig.

6.) The ratio of gearing between the cogwheels 24 25 is six to one'i. e., that when the larger co -wheel 24 makes one-sixth of-a revolution while the compartments 7 move the length of one compartment the smaller cog-wheel 25 makes a complete revolution. On the last-named cog-wheel is secured an arm 26, which by means of the link 27 is connected to a fast arm on the pivoted door. The link 27 is provided with a slot 28 for the pin '29, which connects the arm on the door with the said link. In Fig. 6 the door is shown in open position. partments are moved a compartment length 1n the one or the other direction, the cogwheel 25 makes, as said above, a complete When the comrevolution, during which the link is carried completely by the coin mechanism. Many modifications of this arrangement can of course be made, as the employment, for example, of a shdable door instead of one pivote The coin mechanism can be of any desired construction and has therefore not been shown in the drawings. In the drawin the door has been shown as hinged; but it can, of course, be slidable, too, if such should be preferred, as both these types are at present well known.

In order to prevent the-compartments by the draw-line 10 bein carelessly pulled from striking against the earin s and the walls and in the highest and owest positions against each other, whereby the apparatus could be put out of order -or be destroyed, the arrangement shown in Figs. 4 and 5 is used. According to this arrangement there is a supplementary endless cord, chain, or

the like 30, which runs over an u per and a bottom wheel 31, of which whee s only the upper one is shown. These wheels 31 are mounted eccentrically and in different planes to-the wheels 3 4 5 ,6. On the axles of rotation of the compartments 7 are secured projections 32 in the form of cranks, which projections at their outer ends are firmly attached to the cord 30. For these ends of the projections 32 there are notches 33 in the wheels 31, corresponding to the notches in the wheels 3 4 5 6, which notches 33 prevent shpplng. It 1s clear that in this arrange ment the compartments 7 cannot swingin their bearings, but that their bottoms always immovably retaintheir horizontal ositions, even when the compartments pass t e wheels mentioned.

I claim- 1. 1n apparatus of the class described, a

casing having an opening, a door for closing ments or shelves supported thereby, A S

casing having an opening,

an endless carrier having comsaid opening,

shelves movable into alinepartments or ment with the opening, and a door-controlthe door and hold it inthe closed-position when a compartment or shelf is not opposite the opening.

2. In apparatus of the class described, a an endless carrier and compartguiding-wheels for said flexible members, a shaft carrying said guiding-wheel, an auxiliary wheel carried by the shaft, and a flexible operating member extending around said auxiliary wheel and partly outside the casing to permit manual operation of the endless carrier.

3. In apparatus of the class described, a casing having an opening, a door for closing the opening, a pair of shafts mounted within the casing, guidingwheels on said shaft, endless flexible members extending around the guiding-wheels,- compartments or shelves hung from said flexible members, and a doorincluding flexible members controlling member carried by one of the shafts and bearing. a fixed relation with the compartments or shelves whereby opening movement of the door is prevented save when one of the compartments or shelves is opposite the opening.

4.' In apparatus of the class described, a casing having an opening, a door for closing the opening, a pair of shafts arranged within the casing, grooved guiding-wheels carried by the shafts, endless flexible members extending around said guiding-wheels, compartments or shelves hung on the flexible members, auxiliary wheels on said shafts, and

- an operating-band extending around the auxiliary wheels and partly outside the casing to permit manual operation of the device.

5. In apparatus of the class described, the

combination with a casing having an opening, of a door for closing said opening, a pair of shafts arranged within the casing, guidingwheels on said shafts, endless flexible members extending around said guiding-wheel, compartments or shelves hung on the flexible members, a pair of auxiliary wheels carried by the shafts, one of said wheels having a circumference bearing a fixed relation to the distance between the adjacent compartments or shelves, an endless band surrounding the auxiliary wheels and extending partly outside the casing, a door-controlling disk secured to one of the shafts and having a notched periphery, a pivoted lever operativelv connected to ried by said lever and arranged to enter the notch of the disk.

In testimony that I claim my own I have in the presence of two witnesses.

LARS OLOF THYR THOMPSON.

the foregoing as Witnesses:

F. ANDERssoN, J. F. A. RU'IBACK.

the door, and a roller carhereto affixed my signature 

